Rowlands

Could not have said it better myself French_Fries (grins!) .... By the way, have you ever considered Corus instead of Criterion? Corus pre should sound very close to Criterion, unless you happen to receive very dirty AC in your home, and it is quite a bit less expensive than Criterion. And do not exclude the little Capri pre .... According to Rowland, Capri sounds better than any of the pres he has designed before, and I have much preferred it over my own ARC Ref 3 for most parameters.

I own a pair of model 6 monoblocks and don't ever see parting with them for quite some time.
Maybe the switching power amps design has hurt them but I have never heard any of that design;I think 6,8 and 9 were probally considered his best in amp design;just my opinion though.

Capri better then the Synergy11i?

I own Rowland gear - beautiful, supremely built to last and sounds great. Doubt I will ever change things......

So one of the reasons why Rowlands are not talked much about is because they are simply great and there is not much to say. Another is perhaps that many Rowland owners are low key too, just like Jeff. I know that his amps are very popular in Asia. In fact, he probably sells more there than here. Not sure about Europe.